The night at the outskirts of Gotham was a cool one. The few leaves that were still on the tree in this late Autumn were struggling to cling one with the wind that picked up when the sun went down. Remy with a cigarette in his hand continued his way down the back road, wanting to get by the city without going through it. While a thief at heart, he knew better than trying his usual tricks in Gotham.
Even with how far the back road was from the city, the lights from it glowed brightly in the distance. If Remy chose so, he could make out the few buildings with designs that were to die for. Or so he heard. (He could never visit the city despite wanting to see the beautiful structures for himself.)
He flicked the ash into a makeshift tray and fought against the wind to keep himself from crashing into the ditch. While Remy knew that the weather would be bad driving up here for one of Guild's meetings, seeing that it was making the car drift away from the middle made him frustrated. The last thing he needed was Papa to scold him for this.
With a huff, he snuffed out the cigarette into the ashtray and put all his focus on the road. There would be more time later for a smoke break. Right now he needed to get to the place in one piece as well as the car.
As the minutes pass him by and the lights from the city started to fade away, the wind continued to rush across the road. With a tightened grip on the wheel and his sight looking at where he assumed the wind was coming from, Remy almost didn't notice the outline of something ahead of him on the road.
It was when he turned his attention back, he pressed against the brake. A foot or so away from the front of the car was a kid standing in the middle of the road. He could see that the kid was short and had dirt all over his clothes.
Remy rolled down the window to give a shout. "What are doing out here? You should be home in bed!"
When he received no answer and the kid didn't move, Remy sighed. As he got out of the car the wind whipped across the road once more. His trench coat fluttered in the strong wind, but it didn't protect him from the chill that went through his body. Crossing his arms as he walked towards the kid, he had to wonder who would be out here during this weather and at this time of night.
As Remy got close enough to see more details, what he saw made him stop a few inches away. While he saw the dirt clinging to every surface of the boy's clothes there was also blood mix in there as well. The short black hair looked like it hadn't seen a good brushing for a long time was was growing past the boy's ears. The most shocking thing that Remy was seeing was that parts of the boy's face looked like it had been burned just recently.
Anger welled up in him at that little fact. If he had to guess, he would say that the boy was 15 or 16. Which made the burn marks even worse and his anger grow even more.
As he took a step towards the kid, he saw that they weren't responding all that much to anything going on. Remy did see him shivering whenever the wind went across the road as he only wore a thin long sleeved shirt and jeans, but it was like he didn't noticing anything going on in front of him. The stare from those green eyes was one that Remy had never come across in all his years of life.
It was obvious that whoever the kid was, he didn't have a place to stay. Whoever he was living with before probably wasn't worried that he was gone. Taking off his trench coat, Remy wrapped it around the kid's shoulder and guided them towards the passenger door.
When they were in the seat and not going to cover everything in dirt, Remy went back to the driver's side. He started the car back up and let the radio softly play in the background, hoping that would help. He took one last look at the kid, wanting to know if anything had changed with a warmer environment.
It did not.
A few hours passed by as Remy drove to the meeting. It was only in the town that he started to strategize on how he was going to handle this. After all, he was only 18 and had never faced this situation before. Stopping by the hotel he would be using over the next few days, he guided the boy to the room. He got a few looks from the employees for this, but Remy knew that they wouldn't do anything to report him.
After all, the son of the Guild's leader wasn't expected to be hassled for anything. Everything could be wiped away without much trouble if one knew where to look and ask in the Guild.
In the room Remy checked the boy over. He wanted to make sure that there wasn't any injuries besides the burn marks he saw. When settling the kid into a comfy bed, he went out. He stopped at a Walmart to get the boy new clothes to wear instead of the ones covered in dirt and blood as well as few other things. Then Remy found a small diner near the hotel to get the both of them something to eat.
It wasn't until he was within sight of the room that he noticed the hotel staff hovering around the door. As Remy got closer he heard the harsh whispers and the panicking tone of their voices. When he was a step or two away from the group, he cleared his throat. They all whipped their heads towards him, looking like dear that were caught in the headlights. (Probably more so if he hadn't been wearing his sunglasses.)
"What seems to be the problem? Is there something wrong with my room?"
"Mr. LeBeau there has been a noise complaint from one of the other residents about your room." A woman spoke up, giving the door a weary glance. "When trying to get into the room, it seems like whoever is in there didn't want us to come in. We got even more concerned when hearing sobbing and the sounds of something being destroyed. Just what do you have in there?"
With a sigh, Remy went up to the door. "Just someone who needs to be looked after. Now if you don't mind madame, I must find out what happened."
"What does that mean, sir?" She demanded. He didn't give her answer as he got the door open. There was something in front of it, but it was no issue to push open the door enough for him and his bags to slip inside
Before the woman could demand an answer out of him again, he forced the door shut. Then he locked it. Looking down at the the few pieces of furniture blocking the door, Remy knew he needed to find the boy. Maybe he could finally get some answers about why the kid was in the road.
And why he hadn't been responding until now.
Turning the corner in the small hallway, Remy was faced with a broken chair, a rumpled bed with blood and dirt stains and the boy kneeling on the floor in the chaos of everything with his head hanging.
When taking a few steps closer, the boy's head snapped up, eyes wide with so much fear that made Remy's stomach churn with disgust. Whoever this kid was living with before has made his list to beat to a bloody pulp. Nobody should be in fear like that for any reason.
Slowly and carefully, he raised his hands in the air. Then he crouched down and lowered his sunglasses so the kid could see into his eyes. Not enough to freak the kid out about the un-natural colours, but just enough to make eye contact if he needed to.
"Can you understand me?" Remy asked. He waited for the kid to answer him back, watching for any signs that would have to make him use force. He hoped that he wouldn't have to.
Minutes passed by them. Still Remy stayed where he was, waiting for any signs that the kid would talk to him.
When looking at the bedside clock, he saw how close he was to being late to the meeting. While he knew he had a responsibility to do his duty as the son of Jean-Luc to go to meetings like this one there was also the unexpected responsibility Remy had taken on when taking the kid into his car. He would have to make a decision soon and face the consequences.
With a sigh, he stood up once more. Trying to make sure his movements wouldn't startle the boy, he went over to the hotel phone. As it rang the front desk, Remy kept his line of vision on the kid. He seemed more willing to move when Remy wasn't near him. He also looked less likely to lash out against anyone.
When the employee finally picked up the phone, he made a request that someone inform those who were at the meeting that he wouldn't be able to make it to there. Then when he placed the phone back, Remy saw that the kid had crawled back to the bed. Even though Remy recoiled slightly at the blood and dirt staining more of the bed, he knew that it couldn't be helped.
Taking a few more steps, he started to talk. "I don't want to do anything to ya, I just want to make sure you're doing all right."
The kid looked up at him. Even if there wasn't as much fear as before, it was still enough to keep Remy from fully reaching the kid. "Can you talk? Or would you prefer just nodding for now?"
Once more there seemed to be a standstill between the two of them. But Remy could wait. He would prefer to keep unintentional harm to the minimum.
Then as if something clicked in his head, the boy slowly nodded yes. This brought a small smile to Remy's face before he took another step. "May I change your clothes? It's gotta be uncomfortable with all that dirt and blood on you."
It took a minute, but the boy nodded yes once more. Remy went through the bags, finding clothing that would be good to sleep in. Then he walked back to the bed again, holding up the items for the kid to see that he wouldn't try anything.
When he was close enough, he placed the clothing on the bed where there wasn't any stains on it. Then slowly and carefully, Remy started to take the ruined clothes off. As he went about this process, he stopped and moved his hands away whenever the kid froze up or started to shake at his touch. He didn't know how long this went on for, but by the time that he got the new set of clothes on the boy, Remy was exhausted.
"Alright, I'm gonna move you to the other bed so the staff can clean this up." Remy said, motioning towards the other bed in the room. He waited for the delayed nod and then carefully and gently guided the kid to the bed.
Even as he pulled the blankets up to keep him warm, Remy saw the way the kid trembled. There was still a bit of the look of the not being aware of what was going on around him, but it wasn't as bad as when Remy first saw him. As soon as he could, Remy stepped away from him to give him the space he probably needed.
With a tired sigh, he made his way back over to the hotel phone. After requesting that he have someone clean up the bed, he waited for the call he knew he would be getting from his Papa. He turned his back to the boy, knowing that nothing would happen if take his eyes off of him.
Remy only let the phone ring once before picking up. "Remy LeBeau speaking, who is calling?"
"Jean-Luc, you imbécile." Came the clearly pissed of voice of his Papa. Remy closed his eyes knowing that he would get quite the lecture. "Tell me why you cancelled an important meeting, especially when you promised that you would be handle it?"
"A thing came up Papa. I would explain more than that, but I wanted to make sure that I done everything to take care of him before taking him home."
"Who is it Remy? Who is so much more important than that meeting?"
With a deep breath in, he answered. "A boy that I had found while on the drive here. He was standing in the middle of the road, not responding to anything I said or did. I just couldn't leave him there with how the weather was."
There was a sigh on the other end of line. "And I'm guessing that something happened that made you decide to cancel the meeting tonight?"
"He apparently freaked out when I went to go get him new clothing and food. At least according to the staff that were at my door when I came back. Had to wait for him to trust me enough to change his clothing and get him into bed."
"Still you could have given me a call before canceling the meeting so I wouldn't have built up all this anger, Remy."
"I'll admit I should have done that Papa, but I was more focused on making sure the boy was alright. You can't fault me for that, right? Oui?"
"No I can not. However I need to see him over once you come home. It could be a ploy from the authorities to sneak they're way in." Jean-Luc said. That same churning feeling came back to his stomach at the thought that legal authorities sent the boy like that to get evidence of the Thieves Guild.
It was beyond heartless for all that Remy had seen during his eighteen years of life.
"Of course Papa. But I'm hoping that's not the case with him." Remy replied. "I got more of a feeling that he ran away from something horrible."
"We can only guess Remy. But for now just make he's taken care of." Then he heard the sound of the line going silent.
As he placed the phone back, he heard the sounds of rapid shifting in the bed and soft whimpers. Turning his body towards the boy, Remy saw the thrashing and the pained look on the younger teen's face. Quickly he went to the side of the bed and kneeled down beside them.
Then as carefully as he could, he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. There was a low whimper at that, but he focused on waking the kid up and getting him to settle down. As he gently rocked the kid awake, Remy saw the way the green eyes flashed with recognition for a few moments. Then it dulled back to the look he had seen all evening.
It broke a part of him that the kid couldn't catch a break. Couldn't have time to know what was going on. "Can I hold you? So you won't be alone with those nightmares?"
When there seemed to be a rough shake of no, Remy sighed. "How about I sit beside here and make sure to wake you when it seems the nightmares are getting back? I can even sing a few songs to lull you back to sleep if you'd like."
For a moment the boy seemed to struggle over the decision. Still Remy made sure not to move. There was no need to make the situation even worse.
Then with a hesitant yes, Remy gave a soft smile. Then did what he said he was going to do. Holding onto a sweaty hand, he sat down on the floor and leaned against the bed. Started to sing the first song that came to his mind.
"Spare a little candle
Save some light for me
Figures up ahead
Moving in the trees..."*
When the maid came in to clean the bed, he was still singing. She gave him a look at how odd it looked. Still Remy didn't care, wanting to make sure that the kid knew he was safe. That if Remy couldn't help it, he would always be there to protect them.
It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the both of them drifted off to sleep without much issue.
For the next few days Remy fell into a routine where He would make sure the kid was properly taken care of in the morning and then headed off towards any meetings he was expected to attend. Then afterwards he would return back to the room and make sure nothing like what happened the first day here happened. Before it was time to sleep, Papa called in to make sure the two of them were alright.
Then when the kid started to drift off to sleep, Remy would keep close. Just in case he needed to keep the kid from hurting himself in his sleep. The few times that the kid did wake up, Remy sang something to calm him and get him back to sleep. It seemed at a certain time, he just stayed asleep with no more issues. Which meant that Remy could sleep without worry.
It was weary, barely getting any sleep, but he didn't complain. After all he took up the responsibility and that was the price he had to pay for that was not a lot of sleep then so be it.
Still there were moments that he noticed that the boy seemed more aware of his surroundings. Like there was a moment of clarity in the haze of fog that surrounded his mind. Just enough to know he was there before taking him away again.
It worried Remy more than give him hope. The boy should probably be getting medical attention for whatever was wrong with him.
As the last day at the hotel came to a close, Remy guided the boy back into the car. It would be a long trip back, especially since there was bound to be more issues than what they encountered with the hotel. As he got in the driver's side of the car and turned on the engine, the music quietly played the tune of an 80's song.
The soft sound of the music and the voice of the singer drifted through the speakers. Remy turned it up a bit louder. Then he focused more on making sure he wasn't going to crash into someone in the parking lot.
Just as Remy was about to start drive away, he heard the most unexpected thing.
"Darkness on the edge
".. On the edge,"
Shadows where I stand
"..Shadows where I stand."
I search for the time
On a watch with no hands
"With no hands,"
I want to see you clearly
Come closer than this
But all I remember
"But all I remember,"
Are the dreams in the mist
"Are the dreams in the mist."
Remy stared as he saw the kid trying to sing along with the words. Even though he was slightly delayed, it was close enough for what Remy had seen over the last few days. He was even moving his head along with the beat of the music!
Slowly as he continued to sing along with the song, he looked over at Remy. His eyes were bright and focused, the green colour more beautiful now that there was someone behind them in control. There was a small smile on his face, just shy enough for Remy not to say or do anything.
There were just some things that you had to take in stride and not make a big deal about.
Since I was unable to use this idea in my last fic about these two, I figured I make it it's own separate thing. It's gonna be short fic, but I'm gonna make every chapter count lol.
Took part's from the song 'These Dreams' by Heart. It's a good 80's song and I felt it would fit as a good lullaby for Remy to sing. (Also I made myself tear up a bit at the end of the chapter there, so rip me lol.)